I just got foe'd by someone named 'ScienceFail'. Found it quite curious as I haven't posted anything even remotely close to controversial in quite a while and this guy has zero posts. My best guess is he is an alternate account for someone. I wish there were some mechanism for letting someone know why you foe'd them (or friended them). Just curious.

I've asked the question and so have a lot of slashdotters... Given a slashdot ID, when did it become active? Okay, this is less than perfect, but after a couple hours reviewing December 31 story postings for the past 14 years, I have a pretty good idea of which Slashdot ID's were active by end-of-year.

Where to begin? Growing up, I was probably the brightest (or close to the top) in my school system based on raw intellect. As a child, I scored a 150 on an IQ test. I skipped a grade, and was still put ahead a couple grades for certain classes like math. In state-wide math competitions, I would score in the top fraction of a percent, and in programming competitions would score among the top in individual rankings. I was doing algebra in third grade and was taking high school classes by the time I hit middle school. However, things were always too easy. I never had to work for a thing. As a result I never really developed a work ethic.

This lack of self discipline really began to show through by high school. I could ace most tests, but usually didn't turn in homework, or most other papers. I began skating by with worse and worse grades. There was one other student in my school with the same raw talent as me. Unlike me, he was focused. He always had top notch grades and was very active in leadership positions in extra curricular activities. I was very active with my Nintendo. He and I were always mentioned in the same sentence when the brightest students were talked about. Yet, I knew also that folks commented on the vast difference in work habits and general attitude.

It got really bad in college. Away from home, there was absolutely no one to keep me accountable. I wouldn't show up for classes. A couple times, I showed up for the syllabus, midterms and finals. Nothing else. It didn't take long before I was put on academic probation.

I moved back home and took a job in telemarketing. Top 0.1% of the general population; making ten bucks an hour. In contrast, the other kid who graduated a year behind me had earned a scholarship to MIT and was half way through his Chemical Engineering degree. I felt like (and was) a complete loser. I think it was the realization that I wasn't "all that" was the first step to turning my life around.

I can't tell you exactly when I made the decision, but I decided to go back to school. This time, I was a bit humbler.

I made some changes. I decided I would wear a tie to school each day. Yeah, I stood out a bit and I am sure a few people thought I was a bit off (and they were right). But the act of looking the part helped put me into a different mindset. It might seem a bit strange, but it helped me to take the classes seriously.

Instead of worrying about what classes would get me a degree, I took classes I wanted to -- a smattering of business classes -- a few classes in Japanese -- violin -- boy did I suck at violin. In each experience, I got to meet different types of people and try new things. I learned a lot about myself and had a lot more fun than I ever had. I think this self-discovery and broadening of horizons was the second part of turning my life around.

I still struggled with procrastination and completing the day to day tasks. Sometimes it was a sheer act of will to do homework. But more often than not, I'd get the work done. As time went on, I found it got easier. And I saw the grades climb. Over the next few semesters, I found that I actually became driven to get things done. I put more effort into it; I invested more of myself into my tasks.

A couple years later, I came to know the Lord. It caused quite a change in my values and goals in life. I became involved in an inner city ministry. I was involved in Bible teaching, tutoring, weekend activities, and generally mentoring these kids. I could tell you dozens of stories about some of the kids and the challenges they were facing. But to make a long story short, they had a big impact on me. So many of these kids don't have a chance in the world -- parents who weren't there, failing school systems, temptations that I never had to face. I came to realize how good I had it, and how fortunate I was to have the opportunities I have. I also felt like I had a purpose in life. The lighting of true passion and purpose was the final step to getting on the road of success.

I would graduate at twenty-five with two Bachelors of Science and got started in my career in banking. I volunteered for extra assignments, doing programming to help make things more efficient. I got noticed and moved up quickly in the bank, becoming an officer within five years of my starting. I watched the work habits of those who I respected in higher positions. These folks weren't always the brightest, but knew how to get things done. I learned and applied a lot.

I have moved from the bank for a management position. I will be going back for my master's soon and hope to get into higher levels of management.Basically, I have learned to truly succeed, you need three things. You need to really know the subject matter you are involved in. Second. You must be passionate about the work that you do. Third, you must care about the people you work with and for. And while, I do sometimes slip into old habits, it doesn't last too long.

I am not sure if this helps anyone else. But if you have any questions, please feel free to ask:)

Wow. This is ridiculous. I can post at work, but at home, I am apparently banned for life. I'm just kinda curious how long I will be banned, otherwise, I'd e-mail and see if I could get it lifted. Funny part is, it has to be related to two posts that got modded both "funny" and "troll" pretty much equally.

Sounds like next time I make a risky joke, I will also have to post something pseudo intellectual to get the slashbots to mod it up and balance it out.

I understand Slashdot has to ward off the trolls, but they have some work to do on the algorithms.

Still banned from posting from home. Not sure how this happened. I had two comments that got modded funny and troll. After this, I was unable to post. Considering my lengthy posting history, and excellent karma, I have to wonder if Slashdot doesn't have an issue with its algorithms.

Due to excessive bad posting from this IP or Subnet, comment posting has temporarily been disabled. If it's you, consider this a chance to sit in the timeout corner . If it's someone else, this is a chance to hunt them down

Here is my current backup strategy (data only): Use Winrar to create a series of CD sized compressed archives. Burn each to CD.

Not fun. Ten CDs now, and growing. I can move up to DVD (and will soon).

I am concerned, though, about corruption. If one file goes corrupt, I understand I can bypass an individual file. I am also doing incremental backups quarterly (a single CD usually) with the full backup annually. I figure this way I have redundancy built in. CDs are stored in my safety deposit box.

My most valuable data is the pictures of my kids. I could never reproduce (obviously). I've even considered using GMail as a secondary backup source, but feel this is a bit unethical.

Anyone have any other advice to ensure that I keep my stuff safe? Any advice would be appreciated. Specifically, making sure I can get to the stuff on my CD-R's. But also, a fast, easy way to do incremental backups.

I really respect the BBC. It does not mean I always agree with everything they write. My respect is not dependent on the degree to which I agree with someone. In fact, some folks that I don't respect much tend to have very similar views as me. Sometimes it is the way one arives at one's choices in life.

The BBC has a really good IT staff. They use technology in a way to make news more understandable. A recent example was their illustrating the hard choices the U.K. would have to make in order to meet demand and meet environmental regulations. You were allowed to make some basic choices, and see the results. try to be to "green", and you blow the price of energy thorugh the roof. Try to go the other direction, and you got to see what the result would be in envronmental terms. It hink it made it very easy to understand the hard choices we all have to make.

Now, look at MSNBC. They are trying to show the immigration issue in the U.S. They were showing how many immigrants live in each state. Yet the way they did it was horrendous (see for yourself here. Not only can you only see one state at a time, but it is virtually impossible to jusp to the state you want without numerous clicks. Is this a good way to present information.

The big difference between MSNBC and BBC. The tech crew at MSNBC uses Flash for the sake of using Flash. Not that it is called for. Usually, it detracts from information presentation instead of adding to it. The BBC uses technology in an intelligent way. It is clear the "information presentation" group and the "web guys" work closely, and have a good understanding of each other.

I got my first two meta-mod's today. I was very surprised and excited. Slashdot has a great business model... lots of us willing to work for free, and are very excited about it. Kinda sad in a way...

Anyhow, the first set, I modded 4 as fair, 2 as unfair, and left the rest alone. The second set I got, I modded 9 as fair, 1 I left alone (decided not to mod funnies, as I guess anything is funny to the right person...)